5 Easy Ways to Attract New Customers To Your Small Business

Every small business relies on new customers for growth. Here are a few simple ideas for getting more people through the doors.

New customers are the lifeblood of every small business. They provide valuable new sources of revenue (always a good thing) and they provide proof that your venture offers something valuable to people.

But, how do you get new customers in the door? It’s never simple but here are 6 ways to attract them into trying your small business:

1. Identify where your customers live

It may seem obvious that you want to know where your customers live but most business owners don’t take the time to hone in on locations. They have a general sense of where their customers come from but they don’t have it down to the zip code. You can learn this level of detail by asking the customer for their zip code at the point-of-sale.

Knowing this information can yield all sorts of cost savings when purchasing advertising. If you can limit your ads to local publications with small advertising costs, you can save money. Similarly, you can use the zip code information to save money in online ads by saying you only want ads to run for people in those specific geographical locations.

2. Try paid online advertising

Speaking of paid ads, they can pay off handsomely if you invest the time to learn about them. It’s easy to spend lots of money on paid ads that are ineffective. But, if you limit them to the zip codes where your customers live (see above) and you make sure to limit them to people who express an interest in your product or service, you can reach the ideal potential customers in your area. It might be good to offer an enticement such as 10 percent off for new customers. And, make sure you add some urgency by saying that the savings will only be good for a limited time.

3. Go the social media route

Social media should be a no brainer in that it’s free and it shouldn’t take a whole lot of time. There’s no real need to write anything substantial and pictures can consist of simple photos taken at your place of business. You can let followers know about an upcoming sale or a limited time offer.

To get followers, make sure you encourage your existing followers to share it with their followers or have them ‘like’ and comment on your posts. That helps with something called ‘engagement’ on Facebook, where your content can end up being displayed to non-followers who might find something interesting in your feed and hopefully give your business a try.

4. Sponsor a local sports team

Another popular route to relatively easy exposure is to sponsor a local sports team such as a little league baseball team. The season often lasts 10 or so weeks, giving your business a lengthy time to be in front of the members of the community. The local sports teams typically charge less than traditional advertising and the people involved with the leagues obviously live in the area that you want to target for your business. And, it engenders good will towards your business for being involved in something considered fundamental to the community.

5. Email your existing customers and ask for referrals

Referrals can be one of the best sources of new customers to a businesses. In fact, some studies show that they are more powerful than any sort of advertising or social media posts in getting a prospect to try your business.

One way to obtain them at scale is to email your existing customer base and ask them to invite a friend to try your business. In exchange, you might be able to work out a referral fee of some sort. The referral fee often leads to more new customers but it’s not always necessary for the referral program to be a success.

Want to know how a point of sale system can help you in your marketing efforts? Contact us today for a free demo.